Have you been following the (ultra) public bickering between the two star hosts of NBC, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien? I have, and probably a bit too much. It is amazing to witness this dogfight between two grown men who claw at each other like two teenagers on Twitter.
But what fascinates me the most is to see these two powerful comics, night after night, drop rivers of venom on NBC, the network that gives them juicy checks for tens of millions to entertain American viewers, and at my last count, they are still signed to.
Tuesday night, the tensions between NBC and its egotistical stars culminated to a point verging on explosion. When CNN journalist Anderson Cooper was in the hot seat, Jay Leno asked him to identify the most threatened animal species on the planet. The Indian tiger? African lion? No, the NBC peacock, responded Leno, 59, laughing. The white haired host also noted that “NBC had very badly managed” this fiasco. Bang! Right in the teeth.
Ninety minutes later and still on the same channel, Conan O’Brien, 46, opened his “Tonight Show” in a caustic manner, saying, “My name is Conan O’Brien and I may soon be available to perform at children’s parties.”
O’Brien played Deal or No Deal: American Banker, to determine his future. The winning case contained two winning tickets for the Jay Leno show at the Luxor in Las Vegas. Uneasiness. Conan O’Brien also slipped this in: “When I was little, I watched the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and I said to myself: one day, I will host that show for seven months.”
The conflict between Leno and O’Brien resulted from NBC making a very controversial programming decision which paid off heavily in the race for ratings. Beginning in September, NBC uprooted Jay Leno from the “Tonight Show” from 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM and put him at 10:00 PM every night of the week in the form of a talk show in a similar vein. The goal of this maneuver? Save tons of money.
For in scheduling “The Jay Leno Show” at 10:00 PM from Monday to Friday, there was no need to buy an expensive drama like “Southland” that traditionally fills this popular time slot. Obviously, the Leno move enraged actors, writers and producers of fiction programs that had been torpedoed by the arrival of the host to the prime time hour.
Leno’s departure opened the door for Conan O’Brien, who quit the “Late Show” at 12:35 AM to take the far more prestigious reins of the “Tonight Show” at 11:35 AM. At any rate, the head of NBC, Jeff Zucker, had promised O’Brien that he would inherit the “Tonight Show” in 2009 back when he was renewing his contract in 2004. And by offering 10 o’clock to Leno, NBC avoided having a competing network steal its star. Everyone is happy, right? Oh, no.
After a few weeks in their new seats, Leno and O’Brien have both been played for idiots by the ratings (this fiasco would have cost almost $200 million). Result: After the Vancouver Olympics, NBC will move The Jay Leno Show to 11:35 PM and turn it into a stunted thirty minute show. Then, Conan’s “Tonight Show” will begin at 12:05 AM. In a fierce and sarcastic press release, O’Brien publicly refused to be transferred to this bastard time. Now, rumors are saying that he will be sent to Fox.
The hosts of competing talk shows, including Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson and David Letterman, have supported O’Brien, publicly perceived as the victim of Leno’s giant ego. On the CBS airwaves Tuesday night, David Letterman suggested replacing “The Jay Leno Show” with the fictional series, Law & Order: Leno Victims Unit. For your information, Leno never accepted being replaced by O’Brien and he regularly mentioned it in his opening monologue.
Also for your information, O’Brien pocketed between $10 and 20 million per year, while Leno earned almost double, according to the New York Times. In short, we are witnesses to an argument between spoiled children who have torn their pajamas at bedtime.
Gentlemen, a little calm and restraint, please. You arouse no pity from us in regards to your scheduling problems. Definitely not.
Now, try to imagine what would happen here in France if Beaudoin made daily use of Bons baisers de France to grate on the big boss of Radio-Canada, Sylvain Lafrance. Would she get public sympathy? Would she remain on the air very long? Probably not. Methinks that the television writers would more likely receive a note that reads like this: “In the TV schedules for the next few weeks, please replace Bons baisers de France with Un gars, une fille et La petite vie.”
Trauma Continues
Fabienne Larouche’s new medical series remains in the BBM polls. After losing 1,095,000 viewers, on Tuesday night, “Trauma” had an audience of 1,083,000, still beating TVA’s La promesse (918,000), initiating a recovery. At 8:00, Providence interested 104,000 viewers. The most popular show on Tuesday night was Le TVA Nouvelles at 6:00 with 1,113,000 listeners.
Tonight, at the end of Conan’s show, he stated that he had no feelings but respect and gratitude for what NBC has done for him and his career.